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Architecture Review Sprint

Make your system architecture explicit — where it matters most

Cyber-Physical Architecture Diagram & Recommendations Sprint

A focused 2-week sprint to reconstruct and validate the architecture of your most critical subsystems, delivering a clear architectural diagram and a document with review comments and actionable recommendations.

Many teams struggle to understand the architecture of complex cyber-physical systems, especially when documentation is incomplete. This sprint reconstructs and validates the architecture of the most critical subsystems and provides actionable recommendations.

This sprint is conducted 100% remotely/online by default, with optional on-site days available if needed.

The Process

Phase 1

Architecture Extraction & Reconstruction

Week 1

Phase 2

Validation & Recommendation Draft

Week 2

Phase 1 — Architecture Extraction & Reconstruction (Week 1)

Goal: Extract and externalize the architecture that currently exists in engineers' heads for the most critical subsystems

  • Interviews with key engineers and designers
  • Live sketching of critical subsystem structure
  • Capture assumptions and unknowns
  • Produce draft architectural diagram

Phase 2 — Validation & Recommendation Draft (Week 2)

Goal: Validate the diagram and document review comments and recommendations

  • Present draft diagram to team for corrections and alignment
  • Document review comments and actionable recommendations
  • High-level notes on remaining system
  • Deliver final diagram + document
  • Final presentation meeting to present and explain outcomes

Deliverables

  1. 1. Architectural Diagram
    • End-to-end model of the most critical subsystems
    • Shows hardware, electronics, firmware, software, backend, and data flows
    • High-level representation of remaining system for context
    • Reconstructed from interviews and validation — not dependent on existing documentation
  2. 2. Architecture Review & Recommendations Document
    • Observations, assumptions, and risk areas
    • Review comments on design and interfaces
    • Prioritized recommendations for improvements or mitigation
    • Guidance for decision-making in critical areas
  3. 3. Final Presentation Meeting
    • Walkthrough of the architectural diagram
    • Explanation of key findings and recommendations
    • Q&A session with stakeholders
    • Discussion and alignment on next steps

Why This Sprint Matters

  • Avoid costly mistakes in hardware-software integration
  • Align engineering teams around shared understanding
  • Make implicit architecture explicit
  • Get tangible, actionable outputs: one diagram + one document you can act on

Frequently Asked Questions

Our system is too large for a 2-week sprint.

The sprint focuses on the most critical subsystems — the areas that drive the highest risk and highest impact decisions. Less critical areas are represented at a high level, so you get actionable clarity without needing to model every component.

Will this be complete?

We define completeness by value, not by size. You'll have a validated reference model for the critical parts and a clear mapping for the rest — enough to guide decisions, reduce risk, and align your team.

What if we have missing documentation?

That's exactly what this sprint is designed for. We reconstruct the architecture from interviews with your engineers — not dependent on existing documentation. This is a feature, not a bug.

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